Atheist Nexus2017-08-18T05:29:42Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeckhttp://api.ning.com:80/files/m2NR8Wwg2KcIPsREfkt4rN5d4*UY2xPbBxzTCWClFYwxjsVrx5cLl2VR0TF0lOmhotTn3mkiBxB*CFj4UuROm2ZlVuVUVkcR/1288780573.jpeg?xgip=1%3A173%3A673%3A673%3B%3B&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://atheistnexus.org/forum/topic/listForContributor?groupUrl=politics-economics-and-religion&user=0948n2z8lve5k&feed=yes&xn_auth=noNorth Korean "Made in China" clothestag:atheistnexus.org,2017-08-15:2182797:Topic:27605402017-08-15T02:07:07.236Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/08/13/business/13reuters-northkorea-labour-china-insight.html" target="_blank">North Korea Factories Humming With 'Made in China' Clothes, Traders Say</a></p>
<blockquote><p class="story-body-text story-content">Chinese textile firms are increasingly using North Korean factories to take advantage of cheaper labor across the border, traders and businesses in the border city of Dandong told Reuters.…</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/08/13/business/13reuters-northkorea-labour-china-insight.html" target="_blank">North Korea Factories Humming With 'Made in China' Clothes, Traders Say</a></p>
<blockquote><p class="story-body-text story-content">Chinese textile firms are increasingly using North Korean factories to take advantage of cheaper labor across the border, traders and businesses in the border city of Dandong told Reuters.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content"><span style="background: yellow;">The clothes made in North Korea are labeled "Made in China" and exported</span> across the world, they said.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content">Using North Korea to produce cheap clothes for sale around the globe shows that for every door that is closed by ever-tightening U.N. sanctions another one may open. The UN sanctions, introduced to punish North Korea for its missile and nuclear programs, do not include any bans on textile exports.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content">Chinese exports to North Korea rose almost 30 percent to $1.67 billion in the first half of the year, largely driven by textile materials and other traditional labour-intensive goods not included on the United Nations embargo list, Chinese customs spokesman Huang Songping told reporters.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content">Chinese suppliers send fabrics and other raw materials required for manufacturing clothing to North Korean factories across the border where garments are assembled and exported.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content"><span>Manufacturers can save up to 75 percent by making their clothes in North Korea, said a Chinese trader ...</span></p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content"><span><span>All factories in North Korea are state-owned.</span></span></p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content"><span><span><span>Chinese clothing manufacturers have been increasingly using North Korean textile factories even as they relocate their own factories offshore, including to Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia.</span> [emphasis mine]</span></span></p>
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<p class="story-body-text story-content"><span><span><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/tZ-RLzoWSo9VMW5QM6pyQietr4OUPkZCW6FUy-2GYyl1LeaB97ZyzsLMvRx01orn35j2Ud-ZMKQdBgKrBWqd8oEbrNL8bbOf/screengrab.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/tZ-RLzoWSo9VMW5QM6pyQietr4OUPkZCW6FUy-2GYyl1LeaB97ZyzsLMvRx01orn35j2Ud-ZMKQdBgKrBWqd8oEbrNL8bbOf/screengrab.jpg?width=450" width="450" class="align-center"/></a>screengrab from video of North Koreans manufacturing "Made in China" ski wear. <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/surf-clothing-label-rip-curl-using-slave-labour-to-manufacture-clothes-in-north-korea-20160219-gmz375.html" target="_blank">image source</a></span></span></p> Tell the Senate: Reject climate-denying Clovis for top USDA science positiontag:atheistnexus.org,2017-08-09:2182797:Topic:27596082017-08-09T18:49:55.943Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<div><a href="http://info@climatetruth.org" target="_blank"><span style="color: #000000;">Trump nominated a racist right-wing climate denier with NO background in science or agriculture, Sam Clovis, to the top science position at the US Department of Agriculture — Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics. </span></a></div>
<p><br></br><span>The Department of Agriculture is on the front lines of the climate crisis. Clovis’ nomination requires Senate confirmation, so we have a very real…</span></p>
<div><a href="http://info@climatetruth.org" target="_blank"><span style="color: #000000;">Trump nominated a racist right-wing climate denier with NO background in science or agriculture, Sam Clovis, to the top science position at the US Department of Agriculture — Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics. </span></a></div>
<p><br/><span>The Department of Agriculture is on the front lines of the climate crisis. Clovis’ nomination requires Senate confirmation, so we have a very real chance to stop it. </span></p>
<div>Add your name to call on all Senators to reject Sam Clovis as chief scientist at USDA: <a href="https://act.climatetruth.org/sign/StopClovis?source=sp&amp;sp_ref=325946394.363.182485.e.0.2&amp;source=em_p">https://act.climatetruth.org/sign/StopClovis?source=sp&amp;sp_ref=325946394.363.182485.e.0.2&amp;source=em_p</a></div> Extremists' "Unite the Right" Rally: A Possible Historic Alt-Right Showcase?tag:atheistnexus.org,2017-08-08:2182797:Topic:27595382017-08-08T00:18:17.271Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/08/07/extremists-unite-right-rally-possible-historic-alt-right-showcase?utm_campaign=HW%20Newsletter%2008072017&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=EOACLK" target="_blank">Extremists' "Unite the Right" Rally: A Possible Historic Alt-Right Showcase?</a></p>
<blockquote><p>"'<span>Unite the Right”'is expected to draw a broad spectrum of far-right extremist groups – from immigration foes to anti-Semitic bigots, neo-Confederates, Proud Boys,…</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/08/07/extremists-unite-right-rally-possible-historic-alt-right-showcase?utm_campaign=HW%20Newsletter%2008072017&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=EOACLK" target="_blank">Extremists' "Unite the Right" Rally: A Possible Historic Alt-Right Showcase?</a></p>
<blockquote><p>"'<span>Unite the Right”'is expected to draw a broad spectrum of far-right extremist groups – from immigration foes to anti-Semitic bigots, neo-Confederates, Proud Boys, Patriot and militia types, outlaw bikers, swastika-wearing neo-Nazis, white nationalists and Ku Klux Klan members – all of whom seem emboldened by the Trump presidency."</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>This reminds me of what was happening in Spokane, WA and Couer d'Alene, Idaho when the Aryan Nations group marched and had rallies, used loud speakers thundering out their message. throughout the towns and neighborhoods. They spread their fliers, had mass mailings, and held yearly parades in Downtown Coeur d'Alene. They wore German style Nazi uniforms and used the Nazi salute to the swastika flag.</span></p>
<p><span>Aryan Nations is a white supremacist religious organization originally based in Hayden, Idaho.Their leader was "Pastor" Richard Bulter who formed the Aryan Nations. He was a Christian and called his church the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Jesus_Christ%E2%80%93Christian" title="Church of Jesus Christ&#x2013;Christian">Church of Jesus Christ–Christian</a>. His ideology was a mixture of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Identity" title="Christian Identity">Christian Identity</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism" title="Nazism">Nazism</a>. They built a compound on 20 acres in Hayden Lake, Idaho. </span></p>
<p><span>The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations formed to counter act the movement. </span>Spokane citizens formed parades at the same times and dates of the Nazi parades and we always had more participants than the Aryan Nations.</p>
<p><span>The discovery of Butler's implication in a plot to overthrow the United States government that began in 1980s and his ties to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Nazism" title="Neo-Nazism">neo-Nazi</a> group known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Order_(white_supremacist_group)" title="The Order (white supremacist group)">The Order</a> became known. <br/></span></p>
<p><span>July 1, 1998, Victoria Keenan and her son Jason, returning from a wedding, stopped their car on the dirt road outside the infamous Aryan Nations compound in northern Idaho. </span>Three Aryan Nations security guards jumped into a pickup truck and chased them. They fired rifle shots repeatedly eventually shooting out a tire and forcing their car into a ditch. A guard grabbed Keenan by her hair, jabbed her ribs with a rifle butt, and put a gun to her head.They pleaded for their lives. Another car approached and the guards stepped back, gave a ``Heil Hitler'' salute and drove off.</p>
<p>The Keenan's successfully sued Butler. A local attorney and <a href="https://www.splcenter.org" target="_blank">Southern Poverty Law Center</a> attorney Morris Dees represented them. The Keenans's won a civil judgment of $6.3 million from Butler and the Aryan Nations armed men who attacked them. </p>
<p>Bankrupted, The Aryan Nations compound was auctioned off and all the buildings burned in a firefighters' training drill, or were torn down. </p>
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<p><span>I know this sounds like a bad movie, but it actually happened. Know and understand our history, it has lessons to teach us. </span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map" target="_blank">Hate Groups</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch" target="_blank">Hate Watch</a></p>
<p></p> He once said mothers do not belong in state office. Now he leads the Trump Cabinet in Bible studytag:atheistnexus.org,2017-08-04:2182797:Topic:27590362017-08-04T16:50:27.924Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/la-na-la-pol-trump-cabinet-pastor-20170803-story.html" target="_blank">He once said mothers do not belong in state office. Now he leads the Trump Cabinet in Bible study</a></p>
<blockquote><p><span>“It is one thing for a mother to work out of her home while her children are in school,” wrote Drollinger, a Californian who created a group called Capitol Ministries to teach evangelical interpretations of the Bible to politicians. “It is quite another…</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/la-na-la-pol-trump-cabinet-pastor-20170803-story.html" target="_blank">He once said mothers do not belong in state office. Now he leads the Trump Cabinet in Bible study</a></p>
<blockquote><p><span>“It is one thing for a mother to work out of her home while her children are in school,” wrote Drollinger, a Californian who created a group called Capitol Ministries to teach evangelical interpretations of the Bible to politicians. “It is quite another matter to have children in the home and live away in Sacramento for four days a week. Whereas the former could be in keeping with the spirit of Proverbs 31, the latter is sinful.”</span></p>
<p><span>"<span>The goal of his two-decade-old ministry, according to its website, is to bring Jesus Christ to politicians “at every stop along their career paths, beginning with their first local elected or appointed positions and following as they ascend to higher office. By doing so, the impact of the Gospel will be increased in every strata (sic) of government as public servants who have been immersed in the word of God move from tier to tier.”</span></span></p>
<p>~ Ralph Drollinger, teacher, Pastor, member of the California congressional delegation — and not just because he is a 7-foot-1 former <a id="OREDU0000192268" title="UCLA" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/ucla-OREDU0000192268-topic.html" name="OREDU0000192268">UCLA</a> basketball star. He is the evangelical spiritual leader who once counseled a group of Sacramento lawmakers that female politicians with young children have no business serving in the Legislature. In fact, he called them sinners.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>"At the time, the commentary caught the attention of the legislative women’s caucus, where several members expressed mortification at what they flatly labeled Drollinger’s misogynistic teachings. State lawmakers protested by wearing aprons in chambers."</span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/rIhlIuLnu0HfsEe*QNx16m4oxkUiUKXz1l8yYsgOnNV-BmXpf7ZdlHCNK2PsAa8LcwrnQ8EYj2-Sy5rd5EBWAB-HHdR-NdE-/lamepoldrollingerarchive20170803.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/rIhlIuLnu0HfsEe*QNx16m4oxkUiUKXz1l8yYsgOnNV-BmXpf7ZdlHCNK2PsAa8LcwrnQ8EYj2-Sy5rd5EBWAB-HHdR-NdE-/lamepoldrollingerarchive20170803.jpg" width="300" class="align-center"/></a></span></p>
<p></p>
<blockquote><p><span>"<span>The group boasts that it “has planted biblical ministries of evangelism and discipleship” in 40 state capitols (sic) and established a study group in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. By last year, Drollinger and his associates also had a presence in the U.S. Senate, and counted 68 lawmakers on Capitol Hill as members."</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>"<span>Drollinger expressed no regrets about his remarks back then and saw no double standard in not labeling fathers of young children serving in Sacramento sinners. He said his belief was that husbands are free to serve leadership roles outside the home but should be “extra sensitive” about being away too long.</span></span></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>~ <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/la-bio-evan-halper-staff.html#nt=byline" class="trb_ar_by_nm_au_a">Evan Halper</a>, Chicago Tribune, Aug 3, 2017</p>
<div><div class="trb_ar_dateline"> Well, what can I say, the "Old Boys' Club" returns in force? We are not helpless, We have the power of our own. We do not have to get in the gutter with these liers.<br/></div>
<div class="trb_ar_dateline"></div>
<div class="trb_ar_dateline">The word "atheist" does not mean we are lilly white, without vices, truth tellers. It means we lack a belief in superstition. Given that fact, it is up to us to define who we are and what we mean. </div>
<p></p>
</div> “Sex dread” education could be on the rise under Trump. Dan Savage is ready to fight it.tag:atheistnexus.org,2017-08-04:2182797:Topic:27590292017-08-04T14:50:01.342Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/8/3/16078980/dan-savage-trump-pence-abstinence-sex-education" target="_blank">“Sex dread” education could be on the rise under Trump. Dan Savage is ready to fight it.</a></p>
<blockquote><p>"right now those motherfuckers are writing the rules of the game we’re all playing. And we’re going to have to beat them with new rules that they wrote and it’s going to be harder."</p>
<p>"What we’re seeing though is an effort to purge voter rolls, and put…</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/8/3/16078980/dan-savage-trump-pence-abstinence-sex-education" target="_blank">“Sex dread” education could be on the rise under Trump. Dan Savage is ready to fight it.</a></p>
<blockquote><p>"right now those motherfuckers are writing the rules of the game we’re all playing. And we’re going to have to beat them with new rules that they wrote and it’s going to be harder."</p>
<p>"What we’re seeing though is an effort to purge voter rolls, and put more voter ID laws in place, make it harder for poor people, people of color, urbanized college students, to vote."</p>
<p><span><span><span>"<span>Yeah, there’s hope. But hope is in action. Hope isn’t a mood. If you want the progress that’s been made not to be entirely held back, you’d like some forward momentum again in the future, you have to get off your ass and get out there and work, fight, and make it happen. It’s not just gonna happen. Progress ain’t the weather, it’s not just gonna rain one day."</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span>~ Dan Savage, </span></p>
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<p><span>I don't like the word and I am quoting Savage here, so I swallow my Victorian upbringing and give you Savage's words. He has an important message about which we need to discuss. <br/></span></p>
<p><span>Here is what experience and research show us: </span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>"in mid-July, the Trump administration slashed more than $200 million worth of federal funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs around America. The administration’s proposed budget in May included funneling $277 million toward abstinence education programs. Abstinence-only education advocates such as Valerie Huber have been appointed to influential positions at organizations like the US Department of Health and Human Services."</span></p>
<p><span>"<span>It’s (<span>abstinence-only funding) </span>galling — it’s counter-productive and people are going to get knocked up. And people are gonna sexually transmit infections ’cause all </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3194801/">the research shows</a><span> that people who have abstinence-only education may delay the onset of sexual activity by about six months to nine months, but they’re still sexually active before marriage. Just less likely to use birth control or any form of protection, so more likely to get pregnant or get an STI."</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>"<span>“sex dread education,”... is all about sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies. Even if they’re offering information about birth control and other things, they’re still trying to scare kids out of being sexually active, which does not work. It all still sucks."</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>"<span>There was also a statewide effort in Colorado that was hugely successful, that brought the unplanned pregnancy and abortion rates down to historic lows. And Republicans and conservatives opposed refunding it, opposed the continuance of each program, even though it dropped the abortion rate down. <span>Because Republicans and conservatives aren’t actually anti-abortion. They want sex to be dangerous and consequential so as to scare people out of having it.</span>."</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span>~ Dan Savage</span></span></span></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span><span><span><span>Oh! Enough of quoting Dan Savage, the entire article is worthy of time and attention. </span></span></span></span></p> US State Department considers dropping "democracy" from its mission statementtag:atheistnexus.org,2017-08-01:2182797:Topic:27584902017-08-01T20:30:09.814Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p>Josh Rogin writes, at the Washington Post (which has an ad-blocker blocker) and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-state-department-democracy-donald-trump-mission-statement-drop-rex-tillerson-a7871121.html" target="_blank">at The Independent</a>:</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-4">US State Department considers dropping 'democracy' from its mission statement</span></strong><br></br> <strong>Change, if it becomes permanent, would sow confusion…</strong></p>
<p>Josh Rogin writes, at the Washington Post (which has an ad-blocker blocker) and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-state-department-democracy-donald-trump-mission-statement-drop-rex-tillerson-a7871121.html" target="_blank">at The Independent</a>:</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-4">US State Department considers dropping 'democracy' from its mission statement</span></strong><br/> <strong>Change, if it becomes permanent, would sow confusion throughout the ranks of civil and foreign service</strong></p>
<p>[...] The draft statements under review right now are similar to the old mission statement, except for one thing - any mention of promoting democracy is being eliminated. [...]</p>
<p>--The State Department's draft statement on its mission is: "Lead America's foreign policy through global advocacy, action and assistance to shape a safer, more prosperous world."</p>
<p>[...] Compare that to the State Department Mission Statement that is currently on the books [...]</p>
<p>"'The Department's mission is to shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere. This mission is shared with the USAID, ensuring we have a common path forward in partnership as we invest in the shared security and prosperity that will ultimately better prepare us for the challenges of tomorrow.'"</p>
<p>Former senior State Department officials from both parties said <strong>eliminating "just" and "democratic"</strong> from the State Department's list of desired outcomes <strong>is neither accidental nor inconsequential.</strong></p>
<p>[...] The mission statement is important because it sends a signal about American priorities and intentions to foreign governments and people around the world, said Mr Abrams, who was considered by Mr Tillerson for the job of deputy secretary of state but rejected by President Trump.</p>
<p>"That change is a serious mistake that ought to be corrected," he said. "If not, <strong>the message being sent will be a great comfort to every dictator in the world.</strong>"</p>
<p>Tom Malinowski, who served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour for the Obama administration, said the new proposed mission statement <strong>brings US foreign policy into closer alignment with that of some of America's chief adversaries, including Russia.</strong></p>
<p>"It's a worldview similar to that of Putin [...]"</p>
<p>Mr Malinowski also predicted that the change, if it becomes permanent, would sow confusion throughout the ranks of the State Department's civil and foreign service because hundreds of State Department officials work on congressionally funded programmes every day that are meant to promote democracy and justice abroad.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>The changes in the State Department mission statement may not seem very significant viewed in isolation. But Mr Tillerson has made several statements and decisions that indicate he plans to lower the priority of democracy and human rights in US foreign policy.</p>
<p>In his first speech to his State Department employees, he said promoting American values "creates obstacles" to pursuing America's national security interests. In March, he broke tradition by declining to appear personally to unveil the State Department's annual human rights report.</p>
<p>In another example, the State Department will soon eliminate the <a href="http://www.humanrights.gov">www.humanrights.gov</a> website and move its content to an alternative web address, <a href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl">www.state.gov/j/drl</a>, a State Department official said.</p>
<p>"It's just so gratuitous. What efficiency is achieved or money is saved by taking something that is prominent on the Internet and hiding it?" said Mr Malinowski. "The consequence is that it's the 9,456th signal sent by the administration that they don't care about promoting American values."</p>
<p>The State Department declined to comment.</p>
<p></p>
<p>[Ellipses and bolding mine. <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-state-department-democracy-donald-trump-mission-statement-drop-rex-tillerson-a7871121.html" target="_blank">Read the whole thing!</a>]</p> Lies, damn lies, and fake newstag:atheistnexus.org,2017-07-31:2182797:Topic:27584472017-07-31T18:30:19.344Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<blockquote><p>"To update the 19th century British conservative, there are three kinds of lies: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/30/1684401/-Lies-damn-lies-and-fake-news" target="_blank">lies, damn lies, and fake news</a>. And for the Republican Party of the 21st century, that assault on truth is a feature, not a bug."</p>
<p>"On matters of war and peace, health care and taxes, the economy and the environment, the GOP has been a myth-making machine for years. And when the…</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote><p>"To update the 19th century British conservative, there are three kinds of lies: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/30/1684401/-Lies-damn-lies-and-fake-news" target="_blank">lies, damn lies, and fake news</a>. And for the Republican Party of the 21st century, that assault on truth is a feature, not a bug."</p>
<p>"On matters of war and peace, health care and taxes, the economy and the environment, the GOP has been a myth-making machine for years. And when the government’s own experts and nonpartisan watchdogs debunked the Republicans’ fact-free frauds, the GOP directed its fire at them.</p>
<p>"Just ask the people who work at the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)—or, more accurately, <em>worked</em> at the Office of Technology Assessment.</p>
<p>"<span>Decades before Donald Trump gutted the EPA, fired scientific advisers, and wiped government web sites to advance his scam that climate change is a “hoax” perpetrated by the Chinese, Republicans first declared war on science."</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>When lies are told, the Office of Technology Assessment analyzes numbers and publishes the fact that tRumpers don't like, they scheme to abliterate the power of OTA</p>
<blockquote><p>"<span>In the 1990's, the GOP"s Congressional leadership led by Newt Gingrich successfully undermined and defunded another trusted nonpartisan authority, the </span><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/31/the-push-for-restarting-the-congressional-office-of-technology-assessment/">Office of Technology Assessment</a><span>. As Chris Mooney explained in his classic, </span><em><span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Jr5e7Tz5VNQC&amp;pg=PT55&amp;lpg=PT55&amp;dq=chris+mooney+republican+war+on+science+gingrich+office+technology+assessment&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=wGrNpjad-f&amp;sig=FJYh81b-YW6G_U0jM9KbtCgxgAk&amp;hl=en&amp;ei=FAS8TrLzD5KGiQLdl9n_AQ&amp;sa=X&amp;oi=book_result&amp;ct=result&amp;resnum=1&amp;ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">The Republican War on Science</a></span></em><span>, Gingrich and his allies saw the destruction of the OTA as essential to their strategy of "manufacturing uncertainty" about acid rain, global warming, CFCs, and so much else. It's no surprise Republicans had their knives out for what one Democratic representative described as a "defense against the dumb." When the internationally admired (and cited) OTA was finally gutted by 1996, Lord Kennet, the driving force behind Europe's own network of OTAs, could only shake his head in astonishment:"</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>When enough people believe lies, we have leadership such as tRump! That means, if we want fair and just leadership we have to influence voters, congresspeople, and find a fair and just POTUS.</span></p>
<p></p> Shrinkflationtag:atheistnexus.org,2017-07-25:2182797:Topic:27573052017-07-25T00:19:09.814Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p>Have you noticed that products get smaller every year? But often the box looks just as big, often with designed special air spaces.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40703866" target="_blank">More than 2,500 products subject to shrinkflation, says ONS</a></p>
<blockquote><p class="story-body__introduction">As many as 2,529 products have shrunk in size over the past five years, but are being sold for the same price, official figures show.</p>
<p>The Office for National…</p>
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<p>Have you noticed that products get smaller every year? But often the box looks just as big, often with designed special air spaces.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40703866" target="_blank">More than 2,500 products subject to shrinkflation, says ONS</a></p>
<blockquote><p class="story-body__introduction">As many as 2,529 products have shrunk in size over the past five years, but are being sold for the same price, official figures show.</p>
<p>The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it was not just chocolate bars that have been subject to so-called "shrinkflation".</p>
<p>It said toilet rolls, coffee and fruit juice were also being sold in smaller packet sizes.</p>
<p><span>Since 2012, the inflation rate for products such as chocolate was actually 1.22 percentage points higher, when the smaller size was taken into account.</span></p>
<p><span><span>Dozens of chocolate bars and sweets have already got smaller.</span></span></p>
<p><span>Toblerone has shrunk by 12%, with larger spaces between the triangular "mountains".</span></p>
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<p><span><a href="https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/A583/production/_92317324_toblerone.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/A583/production/_92317324_toblerone.jpg?width=350" width="350" class="align-center"/></a></span></p>
<p><span>My grocery store's regular cotton balls have become so tiny they often aren't big enough to clean inside of my cats' ears. I recently had to switch from "triple-X" size to "Jumbo Plus" (the largest) to clean cat butt.</span></p>
<p><span>I miss gallon sized milk containers too.</span></p> Trump lies while POTUStag:atheistnexus.org,2017-07-20:2182797:Topic:27570592017-07-20T18:03:21.122Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=opinion-c-col-right-region&amp;region=opinion-c-col-right-region&amp;WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region" target="_blank">T r u m p ’ s L i e s Many Americans have become accustomed to President Trump’s lies. </a></p>
<blockquote><p>"But as regular as they have become, the country should not allow itself to become numb to them. So we have…</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=opinion-c-col-right-region&amp;region=opinion-c-col-right-region&amp;WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region" target="_blank">T r u m p ’ s L i e s Many Americans have become accustomed to President Trump’s lies. </a></p>
<blockquote><p>"But as regular as they have become, the country should not allow itself to become numb to them. So we have catalogued nearly every outright lie he has told publicly since taking the oath of office. Updated July 20: The president is still lying, so we've added to this list, and provided links to the facts in each case. By DAVID LEONHARDT and STUART A. THOMPSON UPDATED July 20, 2017"</p>
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<p></p> We have dire Problems: Don’t be distracted by Trump’s Twitter Cascadestag:atheistnexus.org,2017-07-10:2182797:Topic:27556392017-07-10T22:10:57.666Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p><a href="https://www.juancole.com/2017/07/problems-distracted-cascades.html" target="_blank">We have dire Problems: Don’t be distracted by Trump’s Twitter Cascades</a></p>
<blockquote><p>"<span>I don’t tweet, but I do have a brief message for our president: Will you please get the hell out of the way for a few minutes? You and your antics are blocking our view of the damn world and it’s a world we should be focusing on!"</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span>"if Trump and his antics didn’t take up so…</span></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.juancole.com/2017/07/problems-distracted-cascades.html" target="_blank">We have dire Problems: Don’t be distracted by Trump’s Twitter Cascades</a></p>
<blockquote><p>"<span>I don’t tweet, but I do have a brief message for our president: Will you please get the hell out of the way for a few minutes? You and your antics are blocking our view of the damn world and it’s a world we should be focusing on!"</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span>"if Trump and his antics didn’t take up so much room in our present American world, it might be easier to take in so many other potential dangers on a planet where matches seem in good supply and the kindling prepared for burning.</span></p>
<p><span>"You could look to the Middle East, for example, and the </span><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176303/">quickly morphing</a><span> war against ISIS, which could soon become a Trump administration-lit fire involving Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and even Russia, among other states and groups. </span></p>
<p><span>"Or you could look to the possible future passage of some version of a Republican health care bill and the </span><a href="https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/6/28/15881720/deaths-senate-health-care-bcra">more than 200,000</a><span>preventable deaths that are likely to result from it in the coming decade."</span></p>
<p><span>"</span> I suspect that the tweets and insults — whether Trump’s, Scarborough’s, or Kristol’s — act as a kind of smoke screen. In readership and viewership terms, of course, they’re manna from heaven for the very “fake news media” Trump loves to hate. They’re “wins” for them as well. In the process, however, the blood, the pigs, and all the rest of the package of Washington’s insult wars help keep our eyes endlessly glued on the president and on next to nothing else in our world. They blind us to our planet and its troubles.</p>
<p>"Can there be any question that Donald Trump’s greatest talent is his eternal ability to suck the air out of the media room? It was a skill he demonstrated in stunning fashion during the 2016 election campaign, accumulating an unprecedented <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/story/13896916/1/donald-trump-rode-5-billion-in-free-media-to-the-white-house.html">$5 billion</a> or so in free media coverage on his way to the White House. It’s safe to say, I think, that never in history have so many cameras, so many reporters, and so many eyes been focused so never-endingly on one man. He looms larger than life, larger than anything in our screen-rich world. He essentially blocks the view, day and night.</p>
<p>"In that sense — in the closest I’ve probably come to such an insult myself — I recently <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176288/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_thank_you%2C_donald/">labeled him</a> our own “little big man.” He’s petty, small in so many ways, but he looms so large, tweet by bloody tweet, that it’s hard to see the burning forest for the one flaming tree."</p>
<p>"<span>As it happens, we know (or at least could know) a little about the nature of those “options.” Only the day before, Trump’s national security adviser, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, confirmed </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/28/politics/north-korea-trump-military-options/index.html">reports</a><span> that a new set of options had indeed been prepared for the president. “What we have to do,” he </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/28/politics/north-korea-trump-military-options/index.html">told</a><span>a Washington think tank, “is prepare all options because the president has made clear to us that he will not accept a nuclear power in North Korea and a threat that can target the United States and target the American population.” As McMaster himself made clear, “all options” included new military ones, assumedly for hitting the North and its nuclear program hard."</span></p>
<p><span>"<span>Similarly, if Trump and his antics didn’t take up so much room in our present American world, it might be easier to take in so many other potential dangers on a planet where matches seem in good supply and the kindling prepared for burning. You could look to the Middle East, for example, and the </span><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176303/">quickly morphing</a><span> war against ISIS, which could soon become a Trump administration-lit fire involving Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and even Russia, among other states and groups. Or you could look to the possible future passage of some version of a Republican health care bill and the </span><a href="https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/6/28/15881720/deaths-senate-health-care-bcra">more than 200,000</a><span>preventable deaths that are likely to result from it in the coming decade."</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>"<span>Or you could focus on a president who has turned his back on the Paris climate agreement and is now plugging not just North American “energy independence” but </span><a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/340135-trump-rolls-out-actions-to-boost-nuclear-fossil-fuels">full-scale</a><span> “American energy dominance” on a planet on which he promises a new fossil-fueled “golden age for America.” In such an age, with such a president — if you’ll excuse the word — hogging the limelight, who’s even thinking about the estimated </span><a href="http://climatenewsnetwork.net/22574-2/">1.4 billion</a><span> “climate-change refugees” who could be produced by 2060 as the world’s lowlands flood? As a comparison, the 2016 figure on “forcibly displaced people” globally that set a post-World War II record, according to the U.N. refugee agency, is </span><a href="http://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends2016/">65.6 million</a><span>, a staggering number that would be but a drop in the bucket in our </span><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2016-was-the-hottest-year-on-record/">overheating</a><span> future if those 2060 figures prove even close to accurate."</span></span></span></p>
<p><span>A World of a Tweeter-in-Chief and “Some Stirred-Up Moslems”</span></p>
<p><span>"</span>A media obsessed with the travails of Zbigniew Brzezinski’s daughter Mika at the fervently tweeting hands of President Donald J. Trump? Who woulda thunk it?</p>
<p>"Make America great again? You must be kidding. It’s time to stop insulting pigs and focus instead on the state of our planet."</p>
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<p>This piece says so much more. it is worth the time and effort to read it all. </p>
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